Strip-serving machine



C. G. MORTIMER.

STRIP SERVING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 25, 1915. RENEWED 0m. 30. 1920.

INVE'IVTOR UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFTOE.

CHARLES G. MORTIMER, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY,'ASSIGNOR T0 NATIONAL BINDING- MAGHINE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A COREQRATIQN 015' NEW YORK.

nseaoea Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 12, 1921.

A lication filed. June 25, 1915, Serial No. 36,199. Renewed October 30, 1920. Serial No. 420,852.

T 0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, OHARLEs Or. Monm- MER, a citizen of the United States, residing at 123 South Parkway, East Orange, New Jersey, have invented an Improvement in Strip-Serving Machines, of which the following description, in connectlon with the accompanying drawings, is a SPGCIfiCatlOII, like letters on the .drawings representlng like parts.

The present invention relates to machines for serving strips of adhesive gummed tape. The improvements may be embodied particularly in the so-called automatic type of machine which is ordinarily adapted to feed, cut and moisten strips of tape and to deliver the same to an operator in adhesive condi-.

tion for immediate application to a package, box, or the like. One subject of the nven-' tion is to secure satisfactory cooperation of the feeding and severing members. A further object is to improve the moistening device.

One embodiment of my invention is 1llustrated in the drawings which accompany this specification and in which Figure 1 1s a side elevation of one type of automatic strip delivering machine with portions broken away, Fig. 2 a vertical sectlon on the l ne 22 of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 a longitudlnal section on the line 33 of Fig. 1, Fig. 4 a vertical section on the line 4-4 of Fig. ,1, Fig. 5 a detail view illustrating a ortion of the tape feeding mechanism, and igs. 6 and 7, detail views of a modified form of moistening and stripping device.

As shown in Fig. 1, a support 1 for a supply of tape is conveniently mounted on a base 2 w ich also carries suitable framework 3 to house other portions of the machine including feeding, severing, and moistening members. Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate more clearly portions of the feeding mechanism, comprising a feed roll 4 fixed on a main shaft 5 and a ratchet 6 also fixed on said shaft 5. Adjacent to the ratchet 6, a disk 7 (detail shown in Fig. 5) is loosely mounted upon the shaft 5 and attached to a pinion 8. This disk 7 carries a pawl 9 adapted to engage the ratchet 6 under pressure of a spring 10. A feed operating ever arm 11 suitably pivoted, as at 12, carries a rack 13 adapted to engage the pinion 8.

The lever arm 11 may be held in normal inoperative position, as illustrated in Fig. 1,

by means of a spring 14 and may be depressed manually against pressure of the said spring by pressing down the free end upon which is mounted a suitable handle 15. Thus, in order to feed a strip of tape from a supply, as a roll 16, the free end of the tape is inserted between the feed roll 4 and a cooperating roll 17, preferably spring pressed against said feed roll. By depresslng the lever arm 11 the pinion 8 and attached disk 7 are caused to rotate, and this motion of rotation is imparted in turn to the main shaft 5 and feed roll 4 by means of the pawl 9 which engages theteethof the ratchet 6 to rotate the latter and the shaft to which it is fixed.

A suitable severing device may be positioned in advance of the feed roll. Tn the machine illustrated in the drawings, a fixed blade 18 is mounted above the service path of the tape as it passes from the feeding mechanism to the moistening mechanism. The feed roll 4 is preferably formed with a plurality of peripheral ridges 19 and in termediate depressions adapted to receive a series of strippers, as 20, to prevent the tape from adhering to and winding u on the feed roll. A movable blade 21 is pivotedat 22 and may be provided with a spring 23 tending to press the free end of the blade downwardly. As indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. the blade 21 is mounted to extend across the normal path of the lever arm 11 which engages the under side of said blade to hold it, by pressure of the spring 14, in closed position when the machine is inoperative.

In order that the blade 21 may conveniently be moved to open position and in readiness to sever the tape strip, means are provided to render the feed roll 4 inoperative during the initial portion of the downward stroke of lever arm 11 or during such part of the stroke as is necessary to release the blade 21 from engagement with the lever arm 11. For this purpose the pawl 9, Fig. 5, may be provided with a pin 24 which projects through a suitable slot 25 in the disk 7 A cam 26, shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1, is mounted on the lever arm 11 in position to engage thev pin 24 and to move the same in the slot 25 against pressure of the spring 10 which tends to hold the pawl 9 in engagement with the ratchet 6, Fig. 5. At the beginning of the downward or feeding stroke of the lever arm 11, the cam 26, cooperating withjthe pin 24, holds the pawl 9 out of engagement with the ratchet 6 so that the feed roll 4 is not rotated untll the blade 21 has dropped into open position. The conformation of the cam then permits the pawl 9 to engage the ratchet 6, thus causing the feed roll 4 to rotate during the remainder of the downward stroke of lever arm 11. The severing ofthe tape advanced by rotation of the feed roll may be conveniently effected by releasing the lever 11 which is pressed back to the positionshown in Fig. 1 by means of the spring 14 and engages the under side of the blade 21 to carry it up into closed position.

The tape strip may be made adhesive by contact wlth a rotatable moistener 27 suitably journaled to rotate in a supply of water contained in a tank 28. The moistener may be connected with the main shaft 5 by suitable gears to rotate simultaneously with the feed roll 4. A corrugated presser roll 29 co-acts with the roll 27 to hold the tape in effective contact with the latter and a roll 30 with an unbroken peripheral surface may be positioned to remove excessive moisture from the moistening roll 27. Grooves 32 may be cut in this roll to receive suitable stripping fingers 33 which are designed to remove the tape from the roll in case of a tendency to adhere. The tank 28 may be provided with a suitable filling and level indicating device such as the projecting portion 31 extending from a convenient part and open at the top so that water may be poured into the tank without removin it from its position.

Although the machine may be operative with various kinds of moisteners, I prefer to use a porous roll having a rigid peripheral surface. 7 Where the roll is properly porous, there is less probability that tape will adhere thereto when left in contact for any considerable time. A rigid peripheral surface is desirable because it maintains its shape under all ordinary conditions of use, thus insuring uniformity of contact across the entire width of the tape. I also prefer to use a roll which, though porous, is capa-' ble of absorbing a quantity of water without changing its volume. This permits more accurate adjustment of the working parts and preventsdifliculties of operation which commonly result from swelling of the moistener when saturated with Water. A roll having the qualities hereinabove designated may conveniently be made from certain kinds of clays and other materials which when baked, produce a hard, porous and absorbent ceramic'orearthenware substance -W6ll known in the pottery art.

Under some conditions, it may be desirable to construct the moistener in several separate sections substantially as illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 where individual sections 39 of suitable material are mounted on a bushing 37 with sufiicient space between each two sections to admit a stripping device conveniently formed by fingers, as 38, having an end loosely mounted on the bushing while the free end projeotsbeyond the peripheral surface of the roll-Where it may conveniently rest against the upper edge of the .water tank or against any other suitable stop. The tape supporting casing 1 may be adapted to properly hold tape of different Widths by a suitable spacing device. For this purpose, I provide a plate 34 held in contact with the tape roll 16 by pressure of springs 35 which may be made to exert suitable pressure upon tape rolls of various widths to prevent any substantial lateral motion or wabbling when the machine is in operation. A hinged cover 36 overlaps the edges of the vertical sides of the casing or tape support l'thus affording effective pro tection to the tape which, for this machine, is preferably supplied in rolls with the gummed side exposed.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a machine adapted to deliver a severed strip of adhesive tape for manual application to a package or the like, the combination of a holder for a supply of tape, feedin means, a moistener, severing means including an end pivoted scissors blade having a normal inoperative position above the path of the tape and means whereby said blade may be moved to a position below the path of the tape before each cutting stroke thereof.

2. In a machine adapted to deliver a severed strip of adhesivetape for manual application to a package or the like, the combination of a holder for a supply of tape, an end pivoted scissors blade, strip feeding means including a feed roll and a lever arm operatively connected therewith and adapted to engage said blade to hold it in normal inoperative position above the path of the tape, a moistener, and means operable with said lever arm for. preventing rotation of the feed roll while moving the blade to a position below the path of the tape strip.

3. In a machine adapted to deliver a severed strip of adhesive tape for manual application to a package or. the like, the combination of a holder for a supply of tape, a moistener, strip feeding means including a main shaft, a feed roll and a pinion mounted on said shaft, and apivoted lever arm having a rack to engage said pinion and operable by hand against spring pressure, an end pivoted scissors blade operable by direct engagement with said lever arm-, and means connected with said strip feeding means and pivoted blade to move said blade to a position below the path of the strip before each cutting stroke thereof.

4. In a machine adapted to deliver a sev- Laeaoea ered strip of adhesive tape for manual application to a package or the like, the combination of a holder for a supply of tape, a pivoted blade, a moistener in advance of said blade, strip feeding means including a main shaft having a feed roll and a ratchet fixed thereon, a pinion and an attached pawlcarrying disk loosely mounted on said shaft, a spring-pressed pawl to engage said ratchet for operating the feed roll, a lever arm having a rack to engage the pinion, and means actuated by said lever arm whereby the pawl and ratchet remain disconnected during a portion of the operation of the rack and pinion.

5. In a machine adapted to deliver a severed strip of adhesive tape for manual application to a package or the like, the combination of a holder for a supply of'tape, a pivoted blade having a normal inoperative position above the path of the tape, a moistener in advance of said blade, strip feeding means including a main shaft having a feed roll and a ratchet fixed thereon, a pinion and an attached pawl-carrying disk loosely mounted on said shaft, a spring-pressed pawl to engage said ratchet for operating the feed roll, a lever arm having a rack to I engage the pinion, and means for holding the feed roll inoperative during a portion of the stroke of the lever arm, comprising a lug on the pawl and a cam on the lever arm adapted to engage said lug to move the pawl out of engagement with the ratchet.

6. In a machine for serving adhesive strips of tape, the combination of a tape support, a bath for moistening fluid, and a porous moistening member adapted to carry water therefrom and absorb moisture therefrom Without increasing its volume, and to transfer moisture to said tape by absorption and superficiall 7. In a macliine for serving adhesive strips of tape, the combination of atape support and a porous moistening member having a rigid peripheral surface, a bath for moistening fluid in operative relation to said member, the member being rotated by movement of the tape, and thereby transferring moisture by absorption and superficially to said tape.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

CHARLES G. MORTIMER. 

